Graphic Testimony: Asbury Park Man Accused Of Raping, Torturing Cat

ASBURY PARK, NJ — Graphic allegations were made Tuesday in Monmouth County Superior Court against an 18-year-old Asbury Park accused of raping and torturing his pet cat over a several-month period, until the cat eventually died on March 2.

The man is Bani J. Mezquititla. His defense lawyer sought to have him released on bail, but Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn denied that request, and ordered him held in the Monmouth County Jail until trial or a plea agreement can be reached.

The court hearing was held this Tuesday in Monmouth County Superior Court.

The cat, Ellie, died March 2. Mezquititla told his roommate he had killed his cat, and she is the one who brought the animal's body to Asbury Park Police headquarters that day.

He is alleged to have strangled the animal using his cell phone cord and then threw her body out his bedroom window.

On Tuesday morning, the assistant prosecutor read the allegations against Mezquititla in a somber tone:

The abuse had been going on for the past several months, starting around Christmastime: On multiple occasions, he strangled the cat with a pulley system using his white cell phone charger, the doorknob and a dresser knob. While strangling her, he would use miniature handcuffs to tie her limbs behind her back. This happened multiple times and he would record the strangulation on video and take selfies.

Detectives then asked if he had ever had sexual relations with the cat, and Mezquititla laughed and said "No, I'm not a psycho."

He later admitted to masturbating in front of the cat, sticking a pencil inside of the cat and using his penis to have intercourse with the cat, multiple times. This included ejaculating inside and outside the cat, said prosecutors.

A post-mortem examination found that Ellie showed signs of sexual trauma, both vaginally and rectally. She had internal puncture wounds, indicative of being penetrated with a sharp object; other media reports it was a pencil.

Additionally, "someone cut her lower jaw and tongue off with a sharp tool. This occurred pre-mortem, meaning while Ellie was still alive," said prosecutors. "He dissected her while she was still alive."

Detectives also found videos on Mezquititla's phone that showed the cat being pulled up by the neck in the pulley system. In one video, she is suspended in the air and appears lifeless. In other videos she is shaking and twitching. In another video, Ellie is seen awake her mouth open, appearing to gasp for air, and clawing at the wall and in the air as she is strung up in the air.

"You can see the cat struggling for its life and in the same picture you can see him smirking," said the assistant prosecutor.

Mezquititla's defense lawyer argued he should be released on bail, saying there is no evidence he has ever harmed a human being.

But Monmouth prosecutors argued he is a public safety risk and want him held in jail.

"The violence he committed here shocks the conscience," said prosecutors. "Animal cruelty especially this is sadistic is the kind that makes someone a serious risk to humans ... He did this because Ellie is defenseless. He is a danger to anyone who is defenseless."

Mezquititla is charged with one count of animal cruelty by tormenting, torturing or cruelly abusing a living animal, resulting in its death, and one count of using a creature in any kind of sexual manner, both third-degree crimes.

Anyone with information about this matter is urged to contact Asbury Park Police Detective Anthony Houlis at 732-502-4582, SPCA Chief of Humane Law Enforcement Michael Goldfarb at 732-542-0040, or SPCA Lt. Michael Magliozzo at 732-440-4538.

Initial report: Asbury Park Man Accused Of Sex Crimes Against Cat, Torturing Animal (March 4)